Ma and Pa succumb: The big box effect on American culture

After watching my hometown of Springfield, Vermont, struggle economically for years, I have been trying to piece out what it is that prevents the community from returning to its thriving past.

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MY INNER MONOLOGUE BLOG Just me, thinking out loud. 2016 READING LIST MESA’S PLACE FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK Ma and Pa Succumb: The Big Box Effect on American Culture JULY 17, 2016 BY ABBY 7 COMMENTS Downtown Springfield in it's heyday (Photo Credit: CardCow.com) Downtown Springfield in its heyday After watching my hometown of Springfield, Vermont, struggle economically for years, I have been trying to piece out what it is that prevents the community from returning to its thriving past. Apart from the exit of the machining industry that earned us the title of “Precision Valley,” what I have found is that most of the independently owned stores and shops in Springfield cannot compete with the “Big Box” stores in neighboring towns such as Wal-Mart in Claremont, New Hampshire. When our community members choose to shop at Wal-Mart instead of supporting the economy of their hometown, they are unwittingly contributing to the continued degradation of their own community. I’ve been tinkering with this research project for some time now, and I’ll warn you that you’ll probably want to refresh your cup-o-joe before you sit down to read it as it’s a bit lengthy. But I think it’s worthwhile, and that’s why I’m sharing it. My hope is that by showing people the good and bad associated with the big boxes, they can (and hopefully will) make better-informed consumer decisions. Once the livelihood of many Americans, independently owned stores and shops have all but disappeared from the marketplace while being replaced by the cookie-cutter conglomerates known today as “big box” stores. Gone are the days of the consumer-driven marketplace and here, seemingly to stay, are the profit-driven chain stores that now dictate mass culture. Although big box department stores provide the ease of one-stop shopping for consumers, low prices, and the only employment in many socio-economically depressed areas, it is alleged that they have also brought higher reliance upon public assistance, increased consumption of imported goods, and a rapid death to a certain individual entrepreneurial spirit in America. In the early years of American commerce, circa early 19th century, pioneers often purchased what supplies and sundries they needed through a bartering exchange at what was then called a trading post. Those trading posts eventually evolved into general stores, most of which were family owned and operated, with the owners residing in an apartment upstairs from their store. As railroad systems developed expanding civilization westward and facilitating the ease of receiving supplies, general stores began to crop up along rail lines and were often the first business-type establishments one encountered upon entering a town or village. Early general stores not only provided locals with what basic supplies they required, but they also served other purposes such as postal services and financial services such as lending money. Because many people only made the trip into town once or twice a month during the pioneering days, general stores also provided a place to socialize and catch up on the latest news. Based on increasing consumer trends, in 1846 one of America’s first department stores opened up, employing nearly 2000 people. Owned by Irish immigrant Alexander Turney (A.T.) Stewart, the Marble Dry-Goods Palace took up nearly an entire city block in NYC. Although general stores had previously provided a collection of items that served the basic needs of pioneering homesteaders, the Marble Dry-Goods Palace was one of the first retail establishments to offer such a wide variety of luxury and fanciful items in one location. Much like its early predecessor, the general store, A.T. Stewart’s department store offered a place for socializing, but it mainly catered to New York’s socially affluent women with a semi-disposable income. By this time in history, shopping provided a liberating experience for many women. This was the first opportunity that many women of early America had been afforded to travel outside their homes without being escorted by the male head of the house and not have to worry about their reputations. Picture1 (Photo Credit: Library of Congress) Consumer purchases were now evolving from basic essential items to items purchased in order to display one’s affluence. In fact, to demonstrate what an impact shopping had become upon one’s social status, Turney took out an ad on the front page of the New York Herald on September 26th, 1846 to attract shoppers by announcing the “Fashionable Shopping in New York.” [1] Following suit just two years later, H. Macy & Company, now known as “Macy’s,” took out an ad in the New York Times that advertised “The Great Sixth-Avenue Bazaar.” Under that headline, the ad pointed out that “A lady can do all her shopping, however extensive it may be, and however long it may occupy her, without even leaving to seek refreshment elsewhere, for there is a separate department devoted to this purpose.”[2] As shoppers, the majority being women, became more in tune with the social aspect of shopping, more department stores began to crop up in major cities, and they offered more services. “The once dingy and cluttered store was eclipsed by a lavishly decorated palace of consumption, which not only present goods in a well-organized and tempting way but also offered a variety of services and public accommodations.”[3] It wasn’t until the early 1900’s though, that department stores became main staples of metropolitan life. Post-World War II America was an era of renewed prosperity and consumption in the United States. Spring-boarding from the booming post-war economy, the next generation would see the opening of three of America’s largest chain department stores, Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart, in 1962. Of the three, Wal-Mart has become the largest corporation in not only the United States but in the entire world. In his own words, Wal-Mart owner Sam Walton put it best, “I had no vision of the scope of what I would start. But I had confidence that as long as we did our work well and were good to our customers, there would be no limit to us.”[4] When Walton opened his first Ben Franklin franchise, Walton’s 5&10, on the town square in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1950, he had no notion that he was laying the foundation to what would become his own retail world domination. Due to its size and consumer recognition, I will use U.S.-based Wal-Mart establishments specifically as an example to represent the “big box” model. However, it should be made clear that the same marketing and corporate principles employed by Wal-Mart are in fact employed by nearly all large chain-type department stores. Just ten years prior to opening his 5&10, and two years before he enlisted into the Army Intelligence Corps to serve during WWII, Walton had been only a management trainee with the J.C. Penney Company.[5] By 1960 though, Walton owned nine Ben Franklin franchise variety stores. He was already grossing over a million dollars annually when he opened his first Wal-Mart in 1962. In 1964 Walton opened two more Wal-Mart department stores in his home state of Arkansas, and by 1966 he owned an additional 16 Ben Franklin franchise stores, which was more than any other retailer in the country. Sam Walton and his brother, Bud Walton, would continue their expansion, saturating the retail market up to the present day. What started out as arguably, a small-scale “mom and pop” merchandising venture itself, grew into the retail behemoth of today that employs more people across the globe than any other corporation in the world.[6] According to their own corporate website, Wal-Mart employs 1.5 million “associates” in its 5,229 U.S. based Super Centers, Discount Stores, Neighborhood Markets, Sam’s Clubs and other small formats.[7] Like an ink blot, Sam Walton’s method for growing his business was “to saturate a market area by spreading out, then filling in.”[8] Known for their discount prices and diversity of merchandise, Wal-Mart has also come under deep scrutiny on several fronts. At the front of the line of those who criticize Wal-Mart for their overbearing global presence are those that Sam Walton and his retail chain have put out of business, which inevitably contributes to the death of many “downtowns” across America. When interviewed by the New York Times in 2004, Richard Moe, President of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, speaking specifically about Wal-Mart, says, “We know the effects that these superstores have… [t]hey tend to suck the economic and social life out of these downtowns, many of which wither and die as a result.”[9] Referring to the Wal-Mart newly opened in Altadena, California in 2013, Min Cha Park, who owns a small beauty supply store tells an interviewer, “I can’t fight with them…You know, they are very low price… Maybe I just give up whatever they sell.”[10] During the same interview period, many other local business owners came forward to express their concerns over Wal-Mart entering into their area. The owner of All Star Liquor said point-blank, “I don’t understand Wal-Mart, why they (would) open around here. I know all of the small businesses in this area will be worse than right now. It’s bad news to the small business owner.” Yet, in contrast to that argument, another small business owner in the same proximity to the new Wal-Mart, Spin-off Music, had this to say, “I think it’s a pretty big deal for them to put it here. It will bring a lot more people to the area.”[11] A 2009 study conducted by the Center for Urban Research and Learning at Loyola University in Chicago found that within a four-mile radius of a pre-determined Wal-Mart location in Chicago, there was indeed an increased probability of smaller establishments going out of business shortly after Wal-Mart opened its doors. The study, in which, “The basic sample follows 306 enterprises 82 of which went out of business over the study period,” validated the fears of small businesses across America. The same study also concluded that even though Wal-Mart created a number of jobs within the vicinity of its store locations, ultimately “Based on the estimated relationship between probability of store closings and proximity to Wal-Mart, the research team estimates that Wal-Mart’s opening has resulted in the loss of about 300 full-time equivalent jobs in its own and nearby zip codes.”[12] Sam Walton began his corporate empire by saturating a market close to home in Arkansas, but over the years, his deeply discounted prices bled over class lines and city limits into the suburbs where more families were beginning to migrate to from the city. By following a target consumer base, Walton’s prices and variety undercut the prices of the same items sold by traditional mom and pop stores in the downtown areas of most cities and towns across America. Shoppers began to prefer shopping closer to home for lower prices and better selections in one location, rather than making the trip downtown to pay higher prices for less in the way of retail offerings, and the requirement of visiting more than one retailer to check all the items off their shopping lists. The Wal-mart corporation has also come under heavy fire from critics who argue that the retail giant doesn’t pay living wages to its employees, which eventually costs taxpayers more in the long run in the way of federal public assistance. Again, referring to the Wal-mart corporate website, Wal-mart claims that in the U.S. the average, full-time, hourly wage is $13.69,[13] which is almost double the federal national minimum wage of $7.25 established by the Fair Labor Standards Act.[14] Piggybacking on the public assistance venue are those who assert that Wal-mart’s healthcare benefits are sub-par, yet charge high premiums. Because of this combination, employees often forgo the coverage and opt for coverage by state programs such as Medicaid.[15] Wal-mart’s corporate website boasts that “Our most popular health care plan starts at only $23.20 per pay period – and includes an up-front contribution of $250 to $1,000 to help pay for medical expenses.”[16] But the $23.20 premium is for a single person and costs add up exponentially for family coverage. A simple calculation for a full-time employee (40 hours/week) earning $13.69 would have to pay nearly a quarter of their monthly pay for the most basic individual plan. Add to that the up-front costs for coverage and it is easy to see how the costs could be prohibitive for many employees whose sole source of family income is their Wal-mart paycheck. On top of the costs are Wal-marts policies which declare full-time associates must work for six months before they can be covered, and part-time associates must work for two years before enrolling for coverage. Another camp of critics has also attacked Wal-mart by attempting to point out that by importing many of the goods sold in its stores from countries like China, Bangladesh, and India, Wal-mart has taken jobs away from people in America, while supporting and condoning by association, poor labor practices, and human rights violations. To counter the “sweatshop” argument, economists Benjamin Powell and David Skarbek point out that often, “[c]riticisms of “sweatshop wages” invariably compare the wages and working condition to American rather than local working conditions.” Further, “sweatshop labor” paid better than the alternatives” in the countries where Walmart’s products are produced.[17] Many of these same critics argue that because Wal-mart’s prices are so low, the quality of the products imported is also low. However, those claims appear to be something closer to biased opines and have yet to be substantiated by solid data. By offering its customers rock bottom prices, Wal-mart has also found itself being associated with small towns with struggling economies and lower-income shoppers. Having already forced the closure of many other retailers in the towns they are located within a close proximity to, Wal-mart often offers the only shopping venue for all members of that community, regardless of socio-economic background. This trend has caused some hostilities as more affluent members of communities are forced to share their retail shopping experience with those they perceive as beneath themselves. Another conflict that arises within the aisles of Wal-Mart are the ideas that Wal-Mart’s low prices encourage social decline and the erosion of American values. Conservative Christians were rebuffed by the idea of such a large institution (that pushes family values) joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as well as partnering with the Service Employees International Union to advocating for mandatory employer-provided healthcare which includes “abortion pills.”[18] The other side of that argument is that Wal-Mart is “alleged to be a “conservative cultural gatekeeper that is able to use its market power to encroach on freedom of expression.” According to progressive critics, this encroachment is based upon of its “insistence on modesty in front-of-the-store displays for magazines like Cosmopolitan, their refusal to carry magazines like Maxim, Stuff, and FHM, and their insistence that album art and song titles be altered to be more “Wal-Mart friendly.”[19] And this is where the consumer retail experience across the country has become more homogenized. As consumers have become more concerned with paying the lowest prices for merchandise, particularly during times of economic downturn such as in 2008, communities that once housed retailers who catered to a diverse clientele base, are now communities that only have a Wal-mart to shop at. Municipalities that once had their own “flavor” now have the same offerings Wal-mart stocks in all its stores across the country. Small variances are allowed for items such as regional “home team” paraphernalia sold for professional athletic teams, but for the most part, customers must choose from what they are presented with. Quite often, the criticisms of the mega-retailer, Wal-mart, overshadow the positive effects the merchant chain has offered the communities in which its stores are housed. For example, in many rural towns with floundering economies, Wal-mart is the only place where work can be found for those without college degrees. Likewise, Wal-mart is one of the few organizations which does not discriminate against age, making a point to hire senior citizens as greeters in nearly all of its U.S. locations. Another note of positivity can be found in that Wal-mart has been identified as empowering women and minorities both within the United States and around the world, allowing them the financial means to live better lives than if they were dependent solely upon public assistance or no work at all. Wal-mart has undertaken a “five-year Women in Factories program, which is being implemented in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations, is teaching critical life skills such as communication, hygiene, reproductive health, occupational health, and safety. Some 8,000 women are also receiving leadership training to develop the skills needed for personal and career development.”[20] This program directly affects nearly 60,000 women who work in the factories of the retailer’s suppliers, in a positive way by empowering them the skills they are so often are denied in their countries as a repressed gender. Further, within the United States, the Wal-mart Foundation has helped more than 200,000 women “through education, training, career counseling, and mentoring.”[21] Another point often that goes unacknowledged by Wal-mart’s critics is the fact that the Walton’s, and the Wal-mart corporation, have donated hundreds of millions of dollars each year to various charity organizations and efforts. Wal-mart’s philanthropy has as one of its main focuses, the economic opportunity for women and minorities across the globe. Sam Walton, once the richest man in America according to Forbes magazine, often grew frustrated with the fact that most media outlets were more concerned with his family’s financial status than they were about the work Wal-mart was doing to better lives and communities. “It made me mad, anyway, that all they wanted to talk about was my family’s personal finances. They weren’t even interested in Wal-Mart, which was probably one of the best business stories going on anywhere in the world at the time, but it never even occurred to them to ask about the company.”[22] Despite all the negativity towards Wal-Mart, the mega-retailer entered into a new marketplace in 2007 when it launched its Wal-Mart.com website, which allowed customers to make purchases online and have them delivered to their homes or shipped to their local Wal-Mart location for pick-up. As the e-commerce marketplace continues to grow and expand, Wal-Mart is beginning to feel squeezed by online giants Amazon and Alibaba. While its brick and mortar stores are still dominating land-based sales, Wal-Mart’s website is lagging. Could e-commerce be Wal-Mart’s kryptonite? With more retailers offering discount prices online, Wal-Mart may start to feel the same kind of effects that it inflicted upon mom and pop stores over the last 44 years. We have only to wonder what the next decade will bring and whether Wal-Mart and other big box chain stores will be able to compete. Regardless of the many criticisms and attacks launched against the Wal-mart corporation and the Walton family over the last two decades, that they remain so widely distributed, and fiscally successful is a testament to the fact that there is a large enough customer base willing to choose its discount prices over product diversity, and production location. Sam Walton began his corporate domination with the same small town entrepreneurial spirit that he ultimately crushed with his success in American capitalist society. Once again, perhaps Sam Walton said it best himself when he said, “If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone…we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life.”[23] For better or for worse, Wal-Mart and its discount prices don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. _____________________________________________ The New York Herald.(New York [N.Y.]), 26 September. 1846. “Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.” Library of Congress. 20 June 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1846-09-26/ed-1/seq-1/ “The Great Sixth-Avenue Bazaar.” The New York Times. 4 April 1878. 24 June 2016. http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1878/04/04/81724293.html?pageNumber=8 Susan Porter Benson. “The Cinderella of Occupations: Managing the Work of Department Store Saleswomen, 1900-1940.”Business History Review (Pre-1986)55, no. 000001 (Spring, 1981): 1. http://search.proquest.com/docview/205500110?accountid=8289. Sam Walton. Walmart Museum. Accessed 18 June 2016. http://www.walmartmuseum.com/explore/#/business/artifact/27917290849 Walton, Sam. Made in America. (New York: Bantam Books 1993). 22 Roger Chapman. 2013. “Walmart.” InCulture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices, edited by Roger Chapman and James Ciment. London: Routledge. Accessed 18 June 2016. http://ezproxy.apus.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sharpecw/walmart/0 Walmart Corporate Site. Accessed 18 June 2016. http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/locations/united-states#/united-states Walton, Sam. Made in America. (New York: Bantam Books 1993). 140 Pam Belluck. “Preservationists Call Vermont Endangered, by Wal-mart.” The New York Times. 25 May 2004. Accessed 21 Jun 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/us/preservationists-call-vermont-endangered-by-wal-mart.html Wendy Lee. “Small Businesses in Altadena say They Can’t Compete with new Walmart’s Prices.” Southern California Public Radio. 25 March 2013. Accessed 20 May 2016. http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/03/25/36484/altadena-small-businesses-say-they-cant-compete-wi/ Wendy Lee. “Small Businesses in Altadena say They Can’t Compete with new Walmart’s Prices.” Southern California Public Radio. 25 March 2013. Accessed 20 May 2016. http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/03/25/36484/altadena-small-businesses-say-they-cant-compete-wi/ Julie Davis, et al. “The Impact of an Urban Wal-Mart Store on Area Businesses: An Evaluation of One Chicago Neighborhood’s Experience. Mother Jones. December 2009. Accessed 15 May 2016. http://www.motherjones.com/files/walmartreport2009122.pages_.pdf Walmart Corporate Site. Accessed 24 June 2016. http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/locations/united-states#/united-states “Minimum Wage.” United States Department of Labor. Accessed 15 Jun 2016. https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/minimumwage “One, Two, Three, Four…We Don’t Want Your Superstore.” PBS.16 November 2004. Accessed 30 May 2016. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/transform/protest.html Walmart Corporate Site. Accessed 16 June 2016. http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/working-at-walmart Art Carden. “Walmart’s Bottom Line.”Freeman 60, no. 1 (Jan, 2010): 19-23. http://search.proquest.com/docview/196601817?accountid=8289. Art Carden. “Walmart’s Bottom Line.”Freeman 60, no. 1 (Jan, 2010): 19-23. http://search.proquest.com/docview/196601817?accountid=8289. Charles Courtemanche, Art Carden, and Jeremy Meiners. 2009. Walmart and values: Painting the town red?Business and Politics 11 (5). 3,4. “Walmart Helps Women to Take Control of their Lives.”Human Resource Management International Digest 23, no. 2 (2015): 16. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1672824996?accountid=8289. 16. “Walmart Helps Women to Take Control of their Lives.”Human Resource Management International Digest 23, no. 2 (2015): 16. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1672824996?accountid=8289. 17. Sam Walton. Made in America. (New York: Bantam Books 1993). 3 Walmart Corporate Site. Accessed 15 June 2016. http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/our-history Works Cited Belluck, Pam. “Preservationists Call Vermont Endangered, by Wal-mart.” The New York Times. 25 May 2004. 21 Jun 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/us/preservationists-call-vermont-edangerged-by wal-mart.html Benson, Susan Porter. “THE CINDERELLA OF OCCUPATIONS: MANAGING THE WORK OF DEPARTMENT STORE SALESWOMEN, 1900-1940.” Business History Review (Pre-1986) 55, no. 000001 (Spring, 1981): 1. http://search.proquest.com/docview/205500110?accountid=8289. Carden, Art. “Walmart’s Bottom Line.” Freeman 60, no. 1 (Jan, 2010): 19-23. http://search.proquest.com/docview/196601817?accountid=8289. Courtemanche, Charles, Art Carden, and Jeremy Meiners. 2009. Walmart and values: Painting the town red? Business and Politics 11 (5). Chapman, Roger. 2013. “Walmart”. In Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues,Viewpoints, and Voices, edited by Roger Chapman and James Ciment. London: Routledge. http://ezproxy.apus.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sharpecw/walmart/0 Davis, Julie, et al. “The Impact of an Urban Wal-Mart Store on Area Businesses: An Evaluation of One Chicago Neighborhood’s Experience. Mother Jones. December 2009. Accessed 15 May 2016. http://www.motherjones.com/files/walmartreport2009122.pages_.pdf Lee, Wendy. “Small Businesses in Altadena say They Can’t Compete with new Walmart’s Prices.” Southern California Public Radio. 25 March 2013. Accessed 20 May 2016. http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/03/25/36484/altadena-small-businesses-say-they-cant-compete-wi/ “Minimum Wage.” United States Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/minimumwage “One, Two, Three, Four…We Don’t Want Your Superstore.” PBS.16 November 2004. Accessed 30 May 2016. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/transform/protest.html Roberts, Bryan Natalie Berg, and Inc Books24x7. 2012. Walmart: Key insights and practical lessons from the world’s largest retailer. 1st ed. GB: Kogan Page Ltd. http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=45981 “Walmart Helps Women to Take Control of their Lives.” Human Resource Management International Digest 23, no. 2 (2015): 16. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1672824996?accountid=8289 Walton, Sam. Made in America. (New York: Bantam Books 1993).